Osage Oranges

whole

half

no match for a car tire

I always thought the osage orange was a tree common to the Great Plains not the east coast.  Also known as hedge apples, farmers planted the oranges as windbreaks and fence rows.  Turns out there are plenty osage orange trees in New York.  There's one, this one above, in Central Park near the Lenox Avenue entrance.  Another in the park is near 100th Street and Central Park West.  There are a couple in Morningside Park as well.  Some farmers at the greenmarket sell them for a dollar apiece.  The oranges are said to be cockroach repellents, and the wood is good for making bows (warning: site contains a photo of a dead, bloody deer). 

That's not the only unexpected living thing in New York. What kind of beast do you think this is that is running around forever wild in Central Park?  Is that the Harlem Meer version of the Loch Ness Monster?  Is it an aquatic dinosaur?  It must be a shy creature, I've never seen anything like it in the park.

That's it for me until Sunday at the earliest.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!